Hockey Night in LA
by Blue Deity
Summary: After Phoenix gets paid in hockey tickets, Maya makes him take her to the game.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Ace Attorney Series of any of its characters. All elements belong to Capcom. Nor do I own the LA Kings or the Chicago Blackhawks.

**Notes:** I'm Canadian, it's playoff time, so here's this.

_**Hockey Night in Los Angeles**_

Maya was bored, _very_ bored. Nick was gone, wrapping up a few loose ends from his latest case and there was nothing to do. All the housework was done; Nick did it before he left; there wasn't anything on TV and she finished the video game she had rented in like, twenty minutes.

"Huh, why isn't there EVER anything to do?" She huffed, flopping down unto the couch and crossing her arms, her face turned up into a pout. Just then, the door opened and Nick walked in. He looked about as annoyed as she was.

"Lousy clients." He muttered taking off his coat and hanging it on the rack. "Can't even pay me when I get them acquitted. Maya…" He said, noticing his usually spunky assistant loafing on the couch. "…take a note, from now on, I start charging a flat rate."

"What's wrong Nick?" She asked. "Get short changed again?"

"Ughh." He grunted, sinking down beside her. "Yep, all they gave me were these." He reached into the pocket on the inside of his suit jacket and held two pieces of paper in front of her curious eyes.

"Wh-what…?"

"Tickets to the Kings game." He said, his voice lacking enthusiasm as he lay back on the couch.

"Kings? You can get tickets to watch kings play a game?" Maya questioned, her head tilted to the side, giving him her 'That's weird and you're a dummy Nick' look. Nick rolled his eyes and sighed. Why did he do stuff like that, it was a perfectly legitimate question. Why did he always try to make her feel stupid?

"**The** Kings Maya, as in the **LA** Kings, the city's hockey team." He said.

"H-oc-key? What's that? Some kinda sport?" She asked.

"You can't be serious." Nick snickered. Maya puffed her cheeks out and knelt up on the couch to get closer to his face.

"Well, EXCUUUSE ME Nick, but it's not my fault! The closest thing to a sport we have in Kurain is trying to see who can kick a rock into a hole!" She said defensively.

"Okay, okay." Nick sighed. "Sheesh. Yes, hockey's a sport, not a very **good **sport, but a sport. Pretty much a bunch of guys skate around with sticks and try to knock a puck into a net that's being blocked by a guy wearing more padding than April May!"

"If that's the case then why do they call it 'hockey' why not 'Netpuck' or 'Pucky' or something like that?" Maya said thoughtfully with her finger to her chin. Phoenix rubbed his forehead.

"I don't know Maya, I never **invented** the game." He whined.

"How come you never hear talk of the Kings on the news or anything?"

"Well, hockey's not really that popular here Maya." Phoenix explained. "I think people started paying attention to it for awhile when the Kings had Gretzky, but that was in the early '90's and I was too young to be able to remember it. Plus, they were a _really _bad team for a looong time, but I think they're doing pretty good now."

"Gre-tzky?" Maya asked bewildered. "What's that?"

"Anyway, I'm going out to see if I can sell these things, might be able to get fifty bucks." He announced. "Huhhhh." He sighed. "Why couldn't it have been Lakers tickets instead?"

"You can't do that Nick! Someone gave these to you; it'd be rude to just up and sell 'em." Maya said, snatching the tickets from his hand. "Oh wow Nick, these are for tonight! We should go Nick, c'mon, please! Please!" She begged shaking his arm in excitement.

"Maya, I don't like hockey." He whined. "I don't want to go."

"Oh c'mon Nick, it's not like either one of us has anything better to do tonight you know. Besides, it's free and no matter how much you don't like hockey, it _has _to be better than going around in the cold trying to get random people to buy tickets from you." She was **not **going to let him waste these, she gave him her best puppy dog look for good measure. Nick looked up at the ceiling for a second.

"Alright, alright, we'll go to the stupid hockey game!" He muttered nearly pouting.

"Yes!" Maya exclaimed, raising her arms in the air. "You're awesome Nick!"

"Yeah, I know." He smirked. "Well, go get ready." He said, patting her on the knee.

"Get ready? What do you mean?"

"Maya, didn't you hear me, there's _ice_ in the arena, it's going to be cold." He sighed.

"O-Oh, yeah, right."

* * *

They were at the arena well before the opening faceoff. Maya was surprised and excited to find that their seats were in the front row, right next to the security glass. There weren't a _whole _lot of people there, and there were big patches of empty seats everywhere. Maya had put on a thick sweater over her robes and Nick brought a blanket which she had wrapped around her legs. It was certainly cold there, but nothing **too **bad. Maya was busy looking over a program she snagged from the main lobby, it went over the basic rules of the game and introduced the names of the Kings, most of their names were really hard to pronounce and didn't look English. Nick soon joined her, having been to the concession stand, with two hot dogs.

"Here you go." He said smiling, holding out one of the hot dogs.

"Thanks Nick~" Maya chirped, smiling back as she took **both **out of his hands. "How come you didn't get anything for yourself?" Nick simply sighed and sat next to her. Maya began to eat and continued to read the program in her lap when the lights went out. The sparse crowd started cheering as a laser light show started up and a video played on the scoreboard. Eventually, the lights came back on and some guys wearing red sweaters emerged from the back and began skating onto the ice. They were met with a chorus of boos.

"Who are they Nick?" Maya asked, shouting over the loud music.

"The visiting team, the Chicago Blackhawks!" He answered.

"Oh…BOOOO!" She called, putting her hands around her mouth to make _sure _they heard her. After the last Blackhawk had taken to the ice, the lights dimmed and a large spotlight appeared and fixed itself on an entranceway opposite to the one the Blackhawks had used.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Came a booming voice seemingly out of nowhere. "PUT YOUR HANDS TOGETHER AND PLEASE WELCOME **YOUR** LOS ANGELES KI-IIINGS!"

"Yay~!" Maya cheered, jumping from her seat and clapping as fast as she could.

"Really getting into it aren't you Maya?" Nick chuckled. Soon the black and purple clad Los Angeles Kings took the ice, each player being named by the man on the loudspeaker as he came out. Maya cheered for each one, even though she could barely understand their names. After the pre-game skate was over, and the national anthem was sung, the game got under way.

"So, the Kings are all from LA and the other guys are all from Chicago, right?" Maya asked as she focused on the game.

"Eh, no." Nick answered slowly. "Actually most of these guys are Canadian or from somewhere in Europe." Maya looked up at him with the 'That's Weird' look again.

"If they're not from here, why are they playing for **our **team? That doesn't make any sense."

"I-It's complicated Maya; let's just say they're playing for LA because they **want** to be, alright?"

"Oh, okay gotcha." The game was a back and forth affair. The crowd erupted when the Kings scored the first goal and booed when the Blackhawks nearly immediately answered back.

"Hey ref, that was offsides!" Maya shouted, pounding on the glass to get the referee's attention after the Chicago goal.

"'Offsides?'" Nick asked. "Maya, three hours ago you didn't even know what a hockey **stick** was."

"Quiet Nick, I'm trying to watch the game!" The program had been _very_ informative. A little while later a Blackhawk drove a King into the boards, the crowd was waiting for a penalty to be called but nothing happened. A chorus of boos rained down unto the referee. "That's Boarding!" Maya shouted. On the next play a hooking penalty was called against LA, making the crowd boo even more. "Can you believe this Nick?" She asked digging him in the ribs in frustration. "We can't touch them, but they're getting away with murder, the referees are really against us tonight." She huffed.

"We? Us?" Nick said dumbfounded.

* * *

A couple of hours of fast paced hockey later and the game was over. Despite the referees being jerks, the Kings managed to win 3-1.

"Yes!" Maya exclaimed, jumping up out of her blanket when the bell sounded, ending the third period. She immediately went over to the edge of the bleachers and leaned over into the tunnel where the victorious Kings were heading back to the locker rooms. "Good game guys!" She smiled, reaching out to them; the occasional player smiled at her, or nodded in her direction, the goalie gave her a high five.

"This was sooo much fun Nick!" She chirped while the two of them headed towards the exit.

"If you say so Maya." Nick answered with a shrug and a yawn. Lousy stick in the mud Nick. As they were passing by the lobby, Maya noticed a souvenir stand.

"C'mon Nick, we can't just go home empty-handed!" She said, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him past; and sometimes through; the crowd towards the stand. Maya looked over what was there with anxious eyes; there were stuffed animals, pucks, t-shirts, pennants, balloons, caps and such there. Maya lit up when she saw what she wanted hanging behind the cashier on the back wall.

"Ooh-Ooh Nick!" She said shaking his arm. "I wanna jersey!"

"A-A jersey!" Phoenix choked. "Maya those things are **expensive**. C-can't I just get you a cap instead?" He whined.

"I can't wear a cap 'cause of my head bun." She answered with her eyes narrowed. Maya crossed her arms and closed her eyes, a sign to Nick that she had her mind made up.

"Well, joke's on you Maya, because I left my wallet home, I only brought enough money for the food and the taxi." He said, with a relieved smile.

"No you didn't Nick, I got it right here!" She reached inside her robes and pulled out Nick's wallet, grinning as she handed it to him.

"M-Maya?"

"All your credit cards are in there too~! So come on. Jersey." She demanded.

"I hate you" He sighed. Maya continued to grin at him. "I don't remember saying I was going to get you a souvenir anyway." He grumbled. "Aright, give me a jersey, size small." He said to the cashier. Maya beamed as Nick handed over a **hundred and forty dollars** to the cashier, who took a small jersey off the wall and passed it to him. "There!" Nick said, pushing the sweater into her chest. "Don't ask for anything for your birthday." Maya hauled off her sweater and quickly pulled the jersey over her head.

"Thanks Nick~" She chirped and gave him a quick hug.

"Y-y-yeah, whatever."

* * *

Maya looked down at herself in the taxi on the way home, it was the goalie's name and number too, the one that had given her the high-five; Ersburg. Maya had decided she was going to wear the King's crest proudly all of her days and that she was going to bleed the black, silver and purple of their jerseys, well at least until they started losing anyway.

"Something wrong Nick? She asked when she noticed he wasn't saying anything, just sorta looking out the window.

"Wh-what no, just thinking how funny it is." He answered,

"What's funny?"

"That when you consider the food, the taxis and that jersey; this _free_ hockey game cost me over two hundred dollars." He moaned.

"Oh, that's all. Man Nick, you're too tight with money." Maya said crossing her arms.

"Yeah and you're too loose." Nick answered quickly.

"Yeah but you love me for it~!"

"Hmph." Phoenix chuckled.

"I had a blast tonight Nick, hey maybe we can start going to a few more games here and there." Maya suggested hopefully, her hands folded in front of her face.

"Oh great!" Nick muttered sarcastically. "Something else to spend all **my **money on." Maya simply smiled and laughed.

"Oh poor Nick."

**END**


End file.
